Former Dem advisor says he's 'almost speechless' at Mamdani's 'enraging' anti-cop comments, laments NYC crime
Since he won the Democratic primary, Mamdani has faced blistering criticism from both Republicans and Democrats for his rhetoric, such as refusing to disavow the phrase "globalize the intifada," which many argue is a call for violence.
Most recently, Mamdani's 2020 interview on the "Immigrantly" podcast went viral on social media. In the clip, Mamdani argued that if one looks at the history of the New York Police Department, "you can see that we have invested in a system that functions in many ways to punish poor Black and Brown people." He went on to claim that these officers are overstepping their proper roles, whether they are called in to handle a homeless person on a train or if somebody is "surviving, you know, going through domestic violence."
Co-host Mark Halperin noted "the notion that police shouldn't be called in cases of domestic violence," and turned to Turrentine, also a co-host on the show, to ask, "What do you think of that? Is that something that's going to hurt him or not?"
Turrentine, who worked under Hillary Clinton when she was a New York senator and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis when he was in the House of Representatives, shared his hope on The Morning Meeting podcast that the Democratic Party condemns this politician.
"I'm almost speechless. Like, that is so enraging," Turrentine said. "It's crazy. I hope it hurts him. Like, when I hear that, and I try to have an open mind, hope that whoever our next mayor is makes this city a great place. I live [here]. We have children here. New York City police officers put themselves in such harm's way. This city is full of crazy people on subways. I, our children go on it. The number of times that there are homeless people who are, like, out of their mind who come up to kids, who scream at them right near - to say the police are the [problem], I hope our party condemns him."
Turrentine lamented the mere prospect of how things would be "if Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and everybody cannot stand up for the NYPD after the progress they've made with crime the last few years," recalling how New York City went from a "hellhole" to being relatively stable, up until recently.
On the podcast, former Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer, also a co-host, honed in on the domestic violence comments, mocking the idea that some sort of social worker is a better person to contact in such cases than a police officer. "I don't want someone to come in and ask them about their feelings. I want them to protect me," he said.
He added, "Aside from all of the stuff that Dan rightly brought up, which I agree with, it doesn't pass the common sense test," he said. "If someone is being brutalized, attacked, you want someone who can protect you, stop them. And this just shows the stupidity that is being perpetrated on folks right now."
Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani's office and did not receive an immediate reply.
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This is not the first time Trump has hosted a small group of African leaders in the US, deviating from the approach of Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who hosted fuller gatherings of African heads of government while in the White House. During his first term in office — viewed by some as 'dismissive toward Africa' — Trump hosted a 'working lunch' in 2017 with nine African heads of state, whom he described as 'partners for promoting prosperity and peace on a range of economic, humanitarian, and security issues.' 'Africa has tremendous business potential,' Trump said in that meeting, which included the leaders of Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa. Now in his second term, Trump has kept an eye on Africa's mineral wealth, with the US keen to challenge China's access to critical minerals in the region. However, he advocates a transactional policy that swaps charity for strategic US investment. 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'For Africa,' Embaló said, according to a statement by Chinese foreign ministry, 'China represents the future and is a brother.' 'Guinea-Bissau is willing to be a trustworthy friend and partner of China,' he added. Last month, Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko was also full of praise for China, thanking it for awarding dozens 'of preparation scholarships' to his nation's athletes and coaches ahead of next year's Summer Youth Olympics. In the same statement, Sonko expressed frustration with the US decision to deny visas to 'several members of the Senegal women's national basketball team' — a leading force in African women's basketball — forcing them to cancel a training camp they had scheduled in the US. With a wider African leaders' summit mooted by the White House for later in the year, Trump has made one thing clear, according to Isike: an urgent shift 'from traditional aid to strategic commerce-driven engagement.' 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